Lipizzaner with an attitude

“Merlin”, a Lipizzaner stallion, is a dressage horse and a breeding stallion.  His guardian called me in April 2007 because of a behavioral problem that began in December 2004. He had become obsessed with mares such that he could no longer be shown or bred. There was also lameness in the left rear limb due to subluxation of the sacro-iliac joint.  

History revealed that in December 2004 he was collected (semen collection) twice daily for 17 days.   Prior to this period, Merlin was well behaved and was doing well in dressage.   Afterwards, he was so focused on mares and so distracted that he was unsafe. He had also become overly aggressive with other stallions. The behavior worsened after he was last bred in the spring of 2006.  Chiropractic adjustments and “energy” work helped only temporarily, so his guardian had decided to retire him from breeding and from dressage competition.  

Based on the assessment that the behavior change resulted from excessive and unnatural breeding, remedy N* (200c potency) was given.  Six weeks after a single dose of the remedy,  “Merlin” was less obsessed with mares, less irritable and more interested in his training. He had been to 2 shows without showing any aggression. He was also moving better: the lameness in the left rear limb was almost gone. He was still improving, so we waited.   Eight weeks after the remedy, he was doing better than ever: having progressed to the next level in dressage. The behavioral problems were resolved. Because there had been requests for breeding, he was bred twice the following week with no recurrence of problems.  As of January 2009, he is doing well and has not needed another remedy.  Though remedy N was curative, my assessment is that he will need another remedy at some point.  

Comment: Increasingly, I see that our health care practices play a significant role in the development of disease in horses.   Un-natural feeding and stabling, along with over-vaccination combine to put horses out of balance.  In this case, over-breeding (made possible by artificial collection methods) led to the behavior change.  As part of the case management, I advised natural breeding.   ​

* These case reports serve to demonstrate the homeopathic process and principles; thus, the remedy name has been omitted.


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